Right now, one simple thing that I am absolutely loving is … dip nail polish. 

I used to use regular nail polish on my fingernails…and my FINGERNAILS split and shredded off one super-thin layer at a time, making it look as if my nail polish chipped.  No matter what type of polish I used.  No matter what brand of polish I used.  No matter how I prepped my nails.  No matter what sort of base coats and/or top coats I used.  No matter how many coats of whatever I put on.  No matter how long I let things dry between coats (25 to 30 minutes between every coat, and at least 2 hours minimum once I was finished painting).

Going to the nail salon improved things.  Getting a full set of nails done.  Sure.  But it sucked the life out of my natural nails.  Then it struck me that I cannot knit as well with a full set on, not unless they are rather short.  And paying that much to have a full set of nails just barely longer than my own nails that is also basically destroying my nails while wearing them…stopped making sense to me.  So, I stopped going to the salon.  Even before the pandemic. 

I cannot go without nail polish.  My nails are horrendously thin.  They peel.  They shatter.  If I try to go one day with bare nails so they can breathe…they will break.  Even polished, if I leave the house, the stress of being out of the house causes my nails to break.  It’s a genetic thing.  These fragile and weak nails of mine.

Then I discovered dip powder (thanks to my daughter).  Thanks to Amazon, I discovered I could buy dip powder and have it shipped directly to me.  And thanks to YouTube, I have learned how to do it well enough that it doesn’t look as if two-year-old did them for me.

I have been using different brands of powders, different brands of base/activator/top coats. 

The best part for me is … my nails do not chip at all – and I have become much more careful with my hands as well.  How that worked I have no clue, but hey, I’ll take it.

My manicure lasts for about ten days before the bottom of my dip, down near the cuticle, starts to lift the teeniest bit…but since I massage my scalp at least twice a day

(it’s part of my Curly Girl Method), I notice even the smallest lift because a stray random hair gets caught under it and gets pulled…but having to do my manicure every twelve days or so versus having to work every single day to try to keep every bit of my nail beds covered is a complete blessing for me.  Plus, doing a dip manicure takes maybe an hour, including soaking off the old polish, and I don’t have to think about my nails again for ten plus days.  When I painted my nails, I needed a ridge filler, a base coat, two to three coats of color, a top coat and a hardener/strengthener.  Roughly seven coats of polish, a minimum of twenty-minutes in between every coat, plus a drying time of two to three hours.  And often, I would end up with smears or cat fur in my nail polish or something…and I would then have to re-do it entirely the next day.

There is none of that with dip polish. 

Plus, I can do my nails just before bedtime and I don’t have to worry about something under the top coat not being drying and my polish being ruined in my sleep.  Once that second top coat is one, I wait two minutes and boom…all done. 

There has been a learning curve for me.  Clearing the cuticle area with an orange stick.  Applying the base coat in different depths along my bare nail.  Using a pipette to apply the powder versus shoving my fingertip into the little jar.

I am so grateful that now it takes me roughly two hours every single month and my nails are pretty; they are protected; they don’t break (unless I hit something or get hit really hard).  I love it.

Comments?  Questions?  Leave them below.